


The One And Only

by creatureofhobbit



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 09:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1600139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creatureofhobbit/pseuds/creatureofhobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alison had always been determined to be Number 1 with everyone in her life - until the day she realised it shouldn't matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One And Only

Ali had always known about Emily’s crush on her, probably even before Emily consciously realised it herself. That day when Ben spread the rumour that he and Emily had had sex, and Emily tried to let them all think it was true? Please. Ali was just surprised any of the others even believed it. 

She’d had no intention of acting on it. Ali liked guys, not girls, but she kind of liked knowing how Emily felt about her. She liked the idea that she would always come first with her friend.

Ali first picked up on how Pigskin felt about Emily when she and the other girls would go and watch Emily’s swim meets. Emily hadn’t noticed, in fact Ali doubted Emily knew that Paige was even gay, but Ali had spotted Paige watching Emily several times, and if Ali had noticed, then it was only a matter of time before Em realised too. If Ali wasn’t careful, they might even end up dating and then Pigskin would be hanging around their group of friends all the time. But worse than that, there would be somebody taking Ali’s place as number 1 in Emily’s life. 

Stealing some of Emily’s notepaper when she wasn’t looking had been easy enough, and so had writing the letters. If anything, it had almost been too easy watching Pigskin totally fall for it. And the kick she’d taken to her back in the soccer game the following week had been totally worth it. Pigskin was history, she was never gonna come near Emily again, and Ali would still come first in her affections.

 

Paige had been the only person Ali had ever felt was a significant threat to her coming first with her group of friends. Ali knew Noel Kahn wasn’t interested in Aria, although it didn’t hurt that while Aria and the others were seeing her breaking up Noel and whoever he happened to be dating, they also didn’t see her planting the seeds in his mind about who his next girl should be. A few hints about “So and so really likes you”, Noel usually acted on it, then next thing Ali knew Noel and whoever would be dating. Aria had no idea of this. She and the others really thought that Ali was trying to help her and Noel get together. Instead, Ali was making sure that she didn’t get pushed out of her friends’ lives by any dates.

She didn’t have to worry with Em, not now she’d taken care of Pigskin, because she could see that Ben was no threat to her. And she’d thought she’d never need to worry with Hanna either, until the day she caught her with Mike. But that was easily taken care of – all she had to do was drop hints to Hanna about how wrong it was, and she could always keep in mind the possibility of telling Aria what she had seen anyway if it came down to it. But Ali doubted it would, she’d stopped that in its tracks.

Stirring up the sibling rivalry between Spencer and Melissa had been a mistake, Ali knew that now. Maybe if she had left that alone, even if Spencer had still developed feelings for Ian, she might not have acted on them. Instead, Ali found herself with another rival for Ian’s affections. She just had to hope that her words to Spencer, and holding the threat to tell Melissa over her head would be enough to convince Spencer to stay away. As for Melissa, Ali was sure she could see her off in some way, and convince Ian that she was the only one he wanted.

It wasn’t until she saw Ian’s videos on his laptop at the Hilton Head that Alison started questioning whether Ian was a prize she really wanted to win.

 

She’d thought she didn’t have to try to be Number 1 with her father, after that conversation she’d overheard between her parents. Jason had been injured at Melissa Hastings’s birthday party after another kid had shoved him down the stairs, and from what Alison had overheard, Melissa and Spencer’s dad had got really angry about it.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Kenneth DiLaurentis had hissed. “Peter Hastings. He’s Jason’s real father.”

Alison had gasped, and then hastily stuffed her hands in her mouth as Kenneth turned around, thinking he had heard her, and then seemed to decide there wasn’t anyone there and turned away again. He did lower his voice, though, because Alison didn’t hear any more. She did search through her mother’s things after that, and managed to find Peter’s letters. Knowing all about it got boring after a while, though. It would be much more interesting if Jason knew, too.

It was only a matter of time before Jason went through her things looking for something of his that she’d hidden. Alison had hidden his things under the floorboards before, and Jason had no imagination. Of course he was going to look there. All she had to do was go through the letters and find the juiciest, the one that was most likely to catch his eye. Simple.

Alison wasn’t sure how much her grandmother knew. But she had always known that she was Grandma D’s favourite, so maybe her grandmother knew at the very least that Jason wasn’t her grandson. Not that it mattered in the end, anyway, once she had dropped the hints about Jason having sold the family heirloom to buy drugs, since he was out of the will anyway and Alison got everything.

She thought she had it all, that she had succeeded in coming first with all her family. But as her mother continued to shovel dirt over Alison, choosing to bury her rather than avenge her attack, Alison realised that she had not, and that in fact, if she had not tried so hard to come first with her family, maybe this would not have happened at all. Jessica was trying to protect someone – maybe Jason, maybe Peter Hastings, maybe someone else entirely – Alison had not seen who had hit her. But whoever it was, they obviously came first with Jessica, and it was only now that Alison realised how little that should matter.


End file.
